New Delhi: It took Justin Pierre Trudeau just 15 seconds to undo nearly two decades of statecraft and diplomacy in the effort to rebuild ties between India and Canada.
On 18 September, a bruised and battered Trudeau, worn down by a summer of domestic discontent and international isolation following his trip to New Delhi, stood before the Canadian Parliament, and made a statement with global implications: he accused the Indian government of having links to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. In all of 15 seconds.
“Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen – Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau said. Overnight, he became India’s public enemy number one. ‘Trudeau ducks questions’, ‘Trudeau refuses to share evidence’, ‘Trudeau is losing popularity’, ‘Trudeau’s major gamble’—he has dominated the headlines. Suddenly, Canadian domestic politics became a hot topic in Indian conversations like never before. And the spectre of radical Sikh groups plotting against India rose again. This is why Justin Trudeau is ThePrint’s Newsmaker of the Week.
Nijjar, a Khalistan separatist and the head of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, was gunned down in the temple’s parking lot on 18 June 2023. Nijjar was considered to be at the heart of all activities of the Indian-designated terrorist organisation, the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF).
Canada expelled an Indian diplomat, Pavan Kumar Rai, whom its foreign ministry described as the chief of India’s intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), in Canada. This move broke the universal code followed by all countries, which typically avoids naming intelligence officials during expulsions.
In a tit-for-tat escalation, India ordered Olivier Sylvestre, believed to be an agent of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), to leave the country.
India rejected Trudeau’s allegations, dismissing them as “absurd and politically motivated.” The escalation also led to the High Commission of India in Canada temporarily suspending visa issuance to Canadians due to security threats faced by the high commission and consulates in Canada. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) revealed Thursday that Canada is withdrawing its diplomats from the country in response to India’s request.
Trudeau’s startling accusations, delivered with a stern demeanour, ricocheted across continents, eliciting deep concerns from Canada’s allies, including the US, UK, and Australia, while they remained cautious regarding further actions.
Also read: Canada must fix cosy approach to terrorism before accusing India. It’s terrible diplomacy
Strategic partner to safe haven for terrorists
The carefully cultivated Indo-Canadian ties by former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper reached its zenith in 2015 when the relationship between the two countries was elevated to a “strategic partnership.”
On Thursday, The MEA called Canada a safe haven for terrorists during a press conference, underscoring how far the relationship has deteriorated since the Harper years.
Harper’s tenure in Ottawa from 2006 to 2015 saw great strides in repairing ties between the two countries, which had been strained, especially due to Canadian neglect that led to the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1985. This tragedy resulted in the deaths of 329 individuals, primarily of Indian origin, making it the deadliest aviation terrorist attack in the world before the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
Under Harper’s leadership, Canada and India signed a civil nuclear deal in 2010 before ties were upgraded in 2015. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Canada in 2015, he received a 21-gun salute, and Harper went as far as to say, “It [the India-Canada relationship] is a very important relationship for our country…it is wonderful.”
The arrival of Justin Trudeau as the leader of Canada fundamentally altered the trajectory of this relationship. The Liberal Party had long faced accusations of ties with pro-Khalistan separatists.
In 2010, when Trudeau became the new leader of the Liberal Party, he favoured the candidacy of Harjit Singh Sajjan in the Vancouver South riding (electoral district) over the more moderate Barj Dhahan. Sajjan had previously been photographed standing below portraits of “martyrs” of Khalistan movement, according to journalist Terry Milewski. His candidacy led to over 30 Sikh liberals quitting the party, accusing Trudeau of supporting fundamentalist and extremist groups.
Out of roughly 1.4 million Canadians of Indian descent, approximately 7,70,000 identify as Sikh. In closely contested elections like those in 2019 and 2021, where Trudeau formed minority governments, the vote of this community is vital.
Trudeau downplayed the departures of various Sikh members from the party, and in 2015 when he stormed to power, he even boasted of appointing more Sikh members to his cabinet than Modi.
However, the relationship between Trudeau and India changed forever in 2018 when, during his visit to the country, a convicted Khalistani hitman named Jaspal Atwal was invited to a dinner with the Trudeau family in New Delhi. Atwal had been convicted for attempting to assassinate a cabinet minister from Punjab in 1986.
Even more concerning, Sophie, Trudeau’s former wife, was pictured with Atwal during a reception for the first family of Canada in Mumbai earlier in the visit. Although the invitation was rescinded, the image of Trudeau supporting extremist views was further reinforced in India.
Also read: Canada has crossed line by outing R&AW officer over Nijjar, breached unwritten espionage rules
Dogmatic belief in freedom of expression
Justin Trudeau’s first major public speech was the eulogy he delivered at the funeral of his father Pierre Elliott Trudeau, a former Prime Minister of Canada. In that speech, Justin described his father’s demands to respect all human beings, irrespective of their “thoughts”.
“My father’s fundamental belief in the sanctity of the individual never came from a textbook. It stemmed from his deep love for and faith in all Canadians,” Trudeau said.
The impact of these words, 23 years later, highlights his consistent stance when it comes to questions or statements made by Khalistani separatists: Canada would always defend freedom of expression while actively countering hatred, as long as it doesn’t affect his vote base.
During a press conference at the recently concluded G20 summit in New Delhi, when asked about the presence of pro-Sikh groups in Canada, Trudeau reiterated his commitment to freedom of expression. He repeated the same message on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly Thursday.
His reluctance to address India’s concerns regarding cooperating on the return of gangsters and Khalistani separatists continues to anger New Delhi. In Trudeau’s calculations, the expectation to work together on solving a crime seems to work only in one direction, rather than being a two-way street—something that an entitled dynast may find hard to grasp.
After all, Trudeau was anointed as the future Prime Minister of Canada when he was just an infant—by none other than US President Richard M. Nixon himself, another leader known for his frosty views on India.
“Tonight, we’ll dispense with formalities. I’d like to toast the future Prime Minister of Canada, to Justin Pierre Trudeau,” Nixon is said to have declared to a four-month-old Trudeau in 1972.
(Edited by Prashant)